Robert Stein

Robert Stein’s Talk

Down the Rabbit Hole: How AI Helps Us Connect with Art

“I almost wish I hadn’t gone down that rabbit-hole – and yet – and yet – it’s rather curious, you know, this sort of life!” -Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Since the earliest beginnings of museums in America, the goal of providing access and enrichment to the broadest possible public has been one of the guiding principles of museums as cultural organizations. Research in the field has long shown that the experience of free-choice learning in the context of museums and museum collections is both inherently enjoyable, enriching, and effective. While the results of that research have been long-standing and repeatedly demonstrated – a variety of factors often causes museums to regress to overly academic and scholarly interpretation that in turn creates a barrier to entry for those who may not have received formal training in art history or those with only a passing interest in art at all.

If we turn our lens towards the digital realm, we find that those same benefits and barriers are still in place for users who want to engage with art online. In fact – one could argue that the experience only magnifies both the positive and negative aspects of how the public engages with art. In a single sitting, and from the comfort of their couch, the public can freely and easily explore the world’s treasures and access unbelievably high-resolution depictions of artworks that in many ways surpass what you could ever see in the museum itself. At the same time, museums find it difficult to convey the richness of the stories behind each artwork in a way that can be retold on the web and that engage and inspire the way that a knowledgeable guide could aptly do.

In this talk, we’ll explore recent ideas and efforts undertaken at the National Gallery of Art to reexamine the nature of online engagement with art. We feel that current models are outdated, fall short of a promise of joyful learning, and reinforce common barriers to access that are not in the best interests of our audience. We will share new directions that leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to bridge gaps in understanding, contextualize rich primary source documentation, and cast a wide net on the connections that exist between these amazing cultural artifacts.

While many of us disconnect and escape from the day by endlessly scrolling vacuous feeds of advertising and influencers – what would a similarly captivating experience of exploring art online look like? What if we could invite curious explorers to follow us down the rabbit hole and into a Wonderland of art?

About Robert Stein

Robert Stein is the Chief Information Officer at the National Gallery of Art where he leads a dynamic team to advance the use of technology, data, and ai to ensure a secure, stable, and efficient IT operation that helps advance the strategic impact of the National Gallery.

Rob brings deep experience leading museums in many different areas from his former roles as Deputy Director at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, and Indianapolis Museum of Art. An active proponent of the role that art museums can play in our communities, Rob is a well-known champion for innovative applications of technology and the use of data to inform strategic decision-making across the cultural sector.

In addition to his work leading museums, he also served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Program officer of the American Alliance of Museums where he worked with museum leaders in the U.S. and abroad to highlight the essential role that museums play in the world.

Prior to his work in museums, Rob developed custom technologies in the field of high-performance computing where his work in human computer interface, scientific visualization, and virtual reality helped to create data-informed insights for the public and domain scientists.

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